Kayak Academy

I love Kayak Academy. Have taken classes and bought gear. I went in today to get a dry suit and had so much help and advice. It was amazing!!! Love them!

Reviewed on Yelp

Trust your GPS and seek out the Kayak Academy, oddly located in the sleepy semi-rural neighborhoods between Issaquah and Renton.  Your search will be amply rewarded as you discover a paddler's trove of all things kayak.  A burgeoning bounty of boats (new and used), a gaggle of top-quality gear, and--most valuable of all--the owner's generous supply of sage wisdom and advice...this guy really knows his kayaks!   I bought a beautiful, pre-owned, lightly-used boat from him at a very reasonable price...only after he took the time to show me several options and guide me through a custom fitting.  Picked up some nice booties, gloves and a top-of-the-line carbon fiber paddle, too.  The guy even set me up with a great roof rack system that doesn't mar the timeless beauty of my Corolla!   Yes, the place is a little tricky to find, but when you do, chances are you'll walk away happy. More...

Reviewed on Yelp

My friends and I took the Kayak 101 class with Jeff. He was amazing. The class was very informative and helpful. Jeff was very patient w a very uncoordinated group of people. He was super helpful and made the class even more fun than it already was. I liked that the class made you tip the boat over a few times before doing the release to get you used to being upside down in the water and got you more comfortable when it came to doing the harder parts. He had a pretty good grasp of our abilities and geared the rescues to ea of us individually. I would definitely recommend taking this course if you have little or no experience w kayaking. More...

Reviewed on Yelp

I got my Kokatat GORE-TEX drysuit at Kayak Academy. I would say they might have been the only supplier that stock custom KING size drysuits! I am a powerlifter and quite bulky and did not fit well into the XXL's. They had a special size suit that did fit me. Kayak dry suits are not cheap and when you finally find one that fits you, it is worth the price just for an acceptable fit. I would say the folks there are very accommodating and they have tons of experience and good quality accessories. I also bought an Yakima Jay-Low. It was perfect for carrying my Eddyline Denali on top of my Mustang with a Yakima stretch kit...George Gronseth helped me, went out of his way to set me up with the accessories and hooked everything up before we even got talking about the money. I got great discounts on accessories. Not many shops will treat you this well...I highly recommend this particular store! They look private owned and are very small, yet seem well stocked up on stuff. If they repair one of your dry-suits, they will loan you a spare while Kokatat repairs and ships your old one back...Where else would you find this level of service?! I will be going there again if I have any kayaking supplies needs. Highly recommended! More...

Reviewed on Yelp

I took their Sea Kayaking 101 course as a complete beginner who's never set foot in a Kayak before.  My goal was to be able to use a real kayak (the kind you are wedged into with a spray skirt clipped on) and be able to successfully get out of it if I flip it (and not drown), as well as some basic kayaking skills such as being able to paddle efficiently. The class was 100% worth the money.  I went in a colder month (spring) and they provide a dry-suit, just wear some warm clothes under it and you can take the class no matter the temperature.  The class itself was 6 hours long (on the water...not counting lunch), and the size was 4 students per 1 instructor.  The first 3 hours we spent learning the basics, learning correct strokes, and then learning how to escape from it underwater (practicing flipping over and escaping) with the help of an instructor.  The second half of the day we spent practicing paddling (the instructor helped us and made a ton of corrections), and then ended the day practicing rescues:  One person would flip their kayak in the middle of the lake (not shallows), get out from under it.  Then another student would help them get back into the kayak (again in the middle in the lake).I came to the class with zero experience and was very concerned about flipping the kayak and drowning...leaving the class I had no concern about flipping the kayak.  I now know how to safely exit a kayak and while I'm certainly no expert and need a lot of practice, this class taught me exactly what I hoped it would.  After you take this class you can join their free weekly get-together for their alumni where they practice skills and kayak around lake Sammamish.Lastly, they also have a shop (separate from the classes) which I bought a paddle and life vest (PFD).  The "shop" itself is more of a garage in the middle of residential area, but despite that I felt like I got some really solid advice on what to buy.  You can find gear cheaper in other places, but I really felt like I got my money's worth after talking to the owner.  He was really patient with me and answered about 45 minutes worth of my questions on a wide variety of topics:  His opinion on brands and types of Kayaks, PFDs, differences between paddles, and that kind of thing.  For a complete newbie like myself I didn't mind paying a bit extra than you could order from Amazon, since I was sure I was buying exactly what I wanted.  He also threw in a 10% discount because I took classes from them, but I'm not sure that's something you can count on getting.Overall this place was incredibly helpful and I'd 100% recommend it to anyone starting out kayaking. More...

Reviewed on Yelp